Cardinal recruit pulls off double in 1,600, 3,200 meters; St. Francis breaks school record in DMR

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From left, the Amador Valley team of Hope Bergmark, Lizzy Shriber, Courtney La and Ashley Baudin jumped to No. 7 in the state in the girls distance medley relay after a runner-up finish at the 44th annual Stanford Invitational on Friday, March 29, 2019. (Vytas Mazeika / Bay Area News Group)

From left, the St. Francis team of Daniel Skahill, Euan Cairns, Mason Elefant and Eric Eng broke the school record in the boys distance medley relay with a runner-up finish at the 44th annual Stanford Invitational on Friday, March 29, 2019. (Vytas Mazeika / Bay Area News Group)

STANFORD — The 44th annual Stanford Invitational featured a pair of high school events on Friday that won’t see the light of the day at the CIF state championships: the 400-meter hurdles and distance medley relay. But action kicked into gear at Cobb Track and Angell Field with top-10 marks in the nation in both the boys and girls 3,200 meters.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights from Day 1 of the meet …

Home-court advantage on the track

Redwood (Larkspur) senior Liam Anderson, a Stanford recruit who captured gold at the Nike Cross Nationals and was crowned Gatorade national boys cross country runner of the year, finished nearly half a minute ahead of the competition in the boys 3,200 meters with a time of 8:59.77. “It’s such a beautiful track,” Anderson said. “And it is kind of cool to be able to race on it knowing that this is where I’m going to be next fall.” Does he prefer cross country or track? “Depends on what time of the year you ask me that,” said Anderson, with a smile. He currently holds the No. 2 time in the nation behind Jesuit junior Matt Strangio (more on him later), the only boys to crack nine minutes so far. The reigning state champion in the 1,600 meters, he took fifth last year in the 3,200. Once again, he plans to run both events at state. “It’s tough, it’s a battle,” Anderson said. “I think at the end of the day I know that I can get the mile away pretty easy, and then it becomes about the two-mile. And that’s hard because it’s late at night and it’s hot and it’s tough and you’re tired.” Los Altos junior Adam Sage finished as the runner-up in 9:27.21, with a bit of cushion ahead of Bellarmine teammates Clem Welsh (3rd, 9:29.69) and Galen Topper (9:30.31). “I wasn’t expecting to get second place,” said Sage, whose goal was to break 9 minutes, 30 seconds. “It was a little windy, so I was a bit worried, but I think at the early point of the race not focusing too much on where I was and focusing on the time and making sure I was on the right spot went pretty well for me.” Familiarity with the facilities at Stanford certainly didn’t hurt his cause. “I used to train here, so it’s little bit of a home-court advantage,” said Sage, who prefers to run the mile but has seen better results in this event.

Preview of what’s to come

San Ramon Valley senior Kate Tavella pushed herself this time around to keep pace with Oregon State-bound Gabrielle Peterson of Healdsburg. A couple of weeks ago at the Dublin Distance Fiesta, it wasn’t the same strategy. “I let her go from the very beginning because I was kind of depending on the other people around me, and I realized after that race that I needed to be a little bit more assertive and see how long I could stick on,” Tavella said. “In the end, I feel I still a lot more left in my tank.” Peterson claimed first at Stanford in a time of 10:27.33, which catapults her to sixth in the nation. The Georgetown-bound Tavella finished as runner-up just shy of a personal record in 10:46.91, which moves her to No. 16 in the state. “It’s always really fun to come out to Stanford, I love this race,” Tavella said. “I love running on this track and I’m happy with my effort and I tied my PR, so at this point of the season I’m feeling really strong.” Oakland Tech’s Caroline Garrett took fourth in 10:58.22, while Los Gatos’ Annika Paylor was fifth in 11:06.45.

Going the (extra) distance in hurdles

Las Lomas senior Taylor Weidinger will run the women’s 400 hurdles next year at Oregon State. At the state championships, though, she’ll compete in the 300 hurdles. This was a rare opportunity to experience what it will feel like to add an extra 100 meters to her race. “I basically started my race where the 300 usually starts,” Weidinger said. “I need to make sure I was pacing myself, I don’t want to die out early on and I need to make sure I can maintain those last extra hurdles down the stretch.” She outpaced the competition by nearly two seconds with a time of 62.39, well ahead of Los Altos’ Thea Mollerstedt (3rd, 64.17) and Los Gatos’ Abby Monti (4th, 64.72). Weidinger treasured an opportunity to run in a college atmosphere. “It’s intimidating, honestly,” she said. “It’s also really inspiring, though. This is going to be me someday and I’m going to see all the high schoolers up here and I’m going to be, ‘That was me once.’ I just really appreciate what they do and I look up to them a lot.” Willamette’s Dylan Murray took first in the boys 400 hurdles with a time of 54.35, while Los Gatos’ Joey Monti was runner-up in 54.95 and Newark Memorial’s Jaelen Craft won his heat with the third-fastest time in 55.18.

First time is the charm for DMR quartet

“Nobody expected this,” Amador Valley senior Courtney La said. Together for the first time, two seniors and two sophomore for the Dons nearly cracked the top 10 in the nation in the girls distance medley relay with a runner-up time of 12:25.06 — just ahead of Palo Verdes (3rd, 12:25.74). St. Francis of Sacramento took first in 12:21.47 to remain No. 3 in the state, but it wasn’t until the anchor leg that Amador Valley relinquished the lead. First up? Ashley Baudin, a senior who ran three laps. “I just kind of went on the feel of it,” Baudin said. “Just trying to stay up the front of the pack and then kick it in the last lap of the race.” La took the baton for one lap. “I’m a sprinter and I usually don’t do the distance medley relay,” La said. “It’s my first time and it’s important to know my limits, because I don’t want to die out at the end of that curve. And then at the end I go all out to the point where I can’t feel my legs anymore.” Sophomore Lizzy Shriber kept the lead after the 800 leg. “For me, I made sure to take it slow in the first lap so I had a big kick,” Shriber said. “I could speed up and have energy in my second lap to go for it.” Then it was up to sophomore Hope Bergmark to bring it home. “I get pretty anxious when I’m in the front because I know there’s someone on my heels,” said Bergmark, who held on for second place. Carlmont took fourth in 12:36.47, while San Lorenzo Valley finished fifth in 12:38.41.

School record in 10 minutes, 23 seconds flat

With Strangio as the anchor, Jesuit pulled away to win the boys distance medley relay with the fastest time in the country in 10:13.58. That meant St. Francis had to settle for runner-up status in 10:23, which now ranks No. 5 in the United States. “He passed me pretty quickly, but coming in with the second place was awesome,” said St. Francis senior Eric Eng, who ran the mile to finish the relay. “I think every racing opportunity is a learning experience and I think in this one we all worked really well together and put it all out there.” St. Francis senior Daniel Skahill led the charge with three laps after the gun. “My strategy was just make sure I’m at the front of the race so that I can give it in a good position to Euan,” Skahill said. “There was a lot of movement, especially in that first lap, so it’s kind of hard to figure out the pace at first.” Junior Euan Cairns took the baton for one lap. “I want to get out fast,” Cairns said. “But at the same time I don’t want to burn out too quickly.” Then it was up to senior Mason Elefant for 800 meters. “It starts to string out and Euan did a great job of closing the gap between the guys in front of me,” Elefant said. “I knew that last lap was going to be hard, I was going to be running that myself. So when I hit the 200 I was ready to leave it all out for these guys.” It all worked out in the end as the quartet of Lancers broke the school record in the DMR. “Hopefully when we come back we’ll be able to see our names on that board by the track,” Eng said. “It was definitely a goal we had coming into this race and I think we all did it as a team,” Elefant said. Of note, Palo Alto also cracked the top five at Stanford (4th, 10:31.73).

Taking the leap into sand box

The King’s Academy senior Bralyn Lux set a PR in the boys long jump with a winning effort of 23 feet, 3¼ inches that pushed him to No. 6 in the state. Meanwhile, Silver Creek senior Jazlynn Shearer took first in the girls long jump with a distance of 19-0½ that moves her into the top five.

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Vytas Mazeika is a sports reporter at The Daily News based out of Menlo Park. He covers athletics at every level, from high school to Stanford to the pros. He also designs the sports pages and copy edits for The Daily News print edition. Mazeika graduated from Carlmont High in 1994 and earned an English bachelor's degree from UCLA.